Portable bowling-alley.



No. 754,456. PATENTED MAR. 15, 1904.

F. KARY.

PORTABLE BOWLING ALLEY.

yAPPLIOA'I'ION FILED un s. 1902.

no MODEL.

/LT/VESSES: W15/vrai??l MWV l Bylql). m.

AUNITED STATE-s Patented March 15, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK KARY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES MORLOCK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE BOWLING-ALLEY.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. '754,456,- dated March 15, 1904.

Application led May 3, 1902. Serial No. 105,801. (No model.) I

To a,ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK KARY, a citizen of the United States', residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Portable Bowling-Alleys; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to .which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is an improved bowling-table arranged for the automatic return of the balls to the player; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of devices hereinafter described andvclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a bowling-table embodying my improvement'. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken on the plane indicated by the line A B of Fig. l.

' The board or alley c is in practice composed of strips of hard wood securely set and fastened together. A frame mfwhich is provided with supporting-legs m, supports the alley, and the latter is provided near its outer e'nd with the usual players taw or foul line f marked thereon orfinlaid thereon. It is also provided at the opposite end with the spots to mark the proper arrangement of pins, one of which is indicated at o. At the inner end of the alley or board is a transversely-disposed depending board a', having a central opening Z of suflicient size to enable the balls g to pass therethrough. This board forms the front side of a pit'aZ, which is carried by one end of the .frame n. The bottom of the pit is inclined forwardly and downwardly, and its sides are also downwardly converged to the opening Z, so that a yball which falls into the pit will gravitate to and through the said opening. The usual gutters Z) are at the sides of the alley or board a, and the latter has side flanges and also a transverse liange at its inner end, as shoWn.-

At the rear end of the frame n, carried therei prises the side boards c, the back board c, and the cover-board c2, the latter being disposed over the rear side of the pit, where its inclined bottom is most elevated. The hood prevents the balls or pins from falling outside the pit, and across the hood in front of and spaced from its back board d is a recoil otlrd orY cushion ka, which serves to arrest the The supporting-legs are connected together by transversely-disposed bars c, which support a receptacle c' under the players or front end of the table and an inclined returnchute ZL, that leads thereto. Said return-chute is at a slight inclination. A return-chute p, which is disposed at a greater inclination, leads from the opening Z of the pit to the Achute ZL, its lower end resting on the latter. The inclination of the chute p is such as to cause the balls to pass rapidly by gravity from the pit to the chute h. The latter is so slightly linclined that the speed of the balls is diminished as they roll upon it, so that they roll gently into the receptacle z' and do not rebound therefrom. y

It will be observed that the described construction of the pit-bottom and location of the opening Z and chute p are important and advantageous, since if the said opening Z were locatedl in the bottom of the pit the pit and playing-surface would .necessarily have to be elevated or the chute p arranged at a less incline in order to set said chute in line with the opening. Such variations would in the one case probably make the alley objectionably high and in the other case fail to allow the balls to obtain the proper impetus to pass to the receptaclec'. ment avoids both of these objections.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- A game-board of the class described, comprising a supporting-frame provided with a playing-surface, apit at the rear end of the playing-surface provided in its frontside with an opening and having a forwardly-inclined bottom converging to said opening, a hood at the rear end of the.supporting-frame above the pit, consisting of a back board, side boards The illustrated arrangeand a cover board, the latter above the rear side of the pit, a recoil-cushion above the rear end of the forwardly-inclined, converging surface of the pit-bottom and spaced from the back board of the hood, a receptacle at'the front end of the frame below the playingsur.

face, a delivery-chute supported longitudinally on the frame below the playing-surface and leading forwardly on a slight downward inclination to said receptacle, and a short conducting-chute extending on a greater inclination from the discharge-opening in the front wall of the pit to the delivery-chute and resting upon said chute, whereby the balls discharging from the pit travel with force and FRANK KARY.

Witnesses:

FRED STRoLzK, ERNST BECKER. 

